Who is Eligible, What Does it Mean, When Do I Enroll, How Do I Enroll?

Need information on your healthcare insurance options for 2014? Broward County Libraries will host a series of free Affordable Care Act workshops, presented by the League of Women Voters and AARP. Go to Broward.org/Library or visit your nearest library to find a list of events. National Arts & Humanities Month (back to top)

- Community Health and Breast Cancer Awareness Fair: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Northwest Regional Library October 8 - Lunch with the Doctor: “Breast Cancer Screening - No Longer a One Size Fits All,” 12 noon to 1:30 p.m., North Regional/Broward College Library October 8 - Exercise, Fitness and Nutrition for Teens Seminar, 4 to 5 p.m., Main Library October 9 - Nutrition - A Step Ahead: Decrease your risks for breast cancer and other illnesses, 6 to 7:30 p.m., Northwest Regional Library October 10 - Integrative Oncology: What Is it and How You Can Benefit, 12 noon to 1:30 p.m., Main Library October 11 - Learn to knit or crochet hats for those battling cancer, all ages, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Nova Southeastern Alvin Sherman Library October 17 - Genetics and the Link to Breast Cancer, 12 noon to 1:30 p.m., Main Library October 24 - Breast Cancer 101: The Basics, 12 noon to 1:30 p.m., Main Library Information Tables: Main Library, North Regional/Broward College Library, Northwest Regional Library Display: Southwest Regional Library

Viva Florida 500 Finale (back to top)The Great Days of Rail Travel on the Florida East Coast

The Great Days of Rail Travel on the Florida East Coast opens October 1 at the Broward County Libraries Division’s Bienes Museum of the Modern Book at the Main Library as the finale for Viva Florida 500, a celebration of the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon’s exploration of Florida. The exhibit takes a trip through Florida’s “Golden Age of Railroad Travel.” Other events for Viva Florida 500 include a concert and book signing. October 9 - Great Days of Rail Travel On the Florida East Coast Opening Reception, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Main Library. Sponsored by Florida East Coast Railway through the Broward Public Library Foundation. October 21 - The Florida East Coast Railway: For More than 120 Years America’s Speedway to Sunshine, 1 to 2:30 p.m., Main Library November 4 - The Greatest Railroad Story Ever Told: Henry Flagler and the Florida East Coast Railway’s Key West Extension, 1 to 2:30 p.m., Main Library November 18 - Book Signing with Merle Saferstein, author of Room 732, 6:30 to 8 p.m., South Regional/Broward College Library November 23 - Ballad of America’s Matthew Sabetella “The Real Florida” Musical Program: A Family Event for All Ages, 2 to 3 p.m., Tamarac Library Exhibits:The Great Days of Rail Travel on the Florida East Coast, Main Library (October 1, 2013-March 31, 2014); Broward Schools Traveling Exhibit, Northwest Regional Library, South Regional/Broward College Library.

Get ready to shop for a good cause on Friday, October 25. Tickets are now on sale for the Colonnade Outlets at Sawgrass Mills’ Tour de Fashion, a day of upscale shopping, food and fashion shows that will help support the Broward Public Library Foundation.

Joi Freeman, a member of the Broward Public Library Foundation’s Board of Directors, is one of five community leaders being honored as a Role Model during the Tour de Fashion event. George Kotsiopoulos, co-host of E! Entertainment’s Fashion Police, is hosting the Role Models awards luncheon at noon.

Tickets are $30 for the day of shopping and $75, which includes the awards luncheon. Shopping hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

When you purchase a ticket to the event in support of the Broward Public Library Foundation, you’ll help provide vital children’s and adult literacy programs throughout the Broward County Library system.

The Broward County Historical Commission celebrates Pioneer Day, October 19 with a reception at 12 noon. The event is co-hosted by the City of Coral Springs and the Coral Springs Historical Society. The 2013 Broward County Pioneers will be honored at 1 p.m. in a ceremony at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts and the Museum of Art, 2855 Coral Springs Dr., Coral Springs. For information, call 954-357-5553.

Photo courtesy of the Coral Springs Historical Advisory Committee. Built in 1964 by the city’s developer Coral Ridge Properties. It has been a Florida Heritage Site since 2003.

The African-American Research Library and Cultural Center presents an initiative launched by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture on how to preserve ephemera that documents African-American life. For more information on this free event, call 954-357-6282.

Throughout December, more than 1,000 disadvantaged children from local child-care centers visit nearby Broward County Libraries to participate in the Books ‘n’ Bears at the Holidays program. Begun in 1991 by library volunteer Bert Harmon, Books ‘n’ Bears has been enjoyed by thousands of Broward County’s neediest children.

After a program of storytelling, entertainment and refreshments, each child receives a gift of a teddy bear and a new book. The Miami Dolphins Foundation is the presenting sponsor of Books ‘n’ Bears, sending cheerleaders and “TD” the mascot to parties. Clean, medium-sized, new or gently used plush bears are collected from Oct. 1 through Nov. 30 at the Youth Services department of any Broward County Library. For further information, call 954-357-7406 or 954-357-7336.

To contribute to the Books ‘n’ Bears program, visit www.bplfoundation.org or call 954-357-7382. All dollars raised will benefit Books ‘n’ Bears, along with other Broward County Library children’s programs.

Join “King Author’s” Stories of the Round Table from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 16, 2013 at the StoryBook Festival, Southwest Regional Library. This free festival offers a day of music, dance, storytelling, characters, crafts, and activities for youngsters and their families.

See live children’s performances on three stages. Roam the Miami Herald’s Fantasy Forest, a magical place where children interact with their favorite storybook characters. Enjoy the “Swappin’ Ground” area where children tell their own stories. This year’s event will also feature a human chess game, maypole dance and storytelling in the “Hobbit” room. Food trucks will be on site selling treats during lunch hours. The first 1,000 children at the festival will receive a free book courtesy of Baptist Health. Children are encouraged to come in costume.

The StoryBook Festival is funded through the Broward Public Library Foundation with support from Baptist Health, the City of Pembroke Pines, the Miami Herald, Broward Family Life Magazine and Friends of Southwest Regional Library.